Europe Gives Dems Warning

Conservative Republican Jim Ellis and liberal Democrat Bennet Kelley present Filibanter, a combination of political filibuster and banter. Read Kelley’s perspective on the European Parliamentary elections here.The stunning center-right victory in the European Parliament elections this past weekend is an ominous warning to American Democrats. European voters flatly rejected the Labor and Socialist Party economic recession policies—actions and spending mandates that are virtually identical to Barack Obama’s bail-out and nationalization edicts. Even Europeans, previously to the left of the U.S. on government and social spending, now understand that stoking the unproductive public sector with endless infusions of cash while simultaneously pouring in hundreds of billions of pounds, euros or dollars to bail out multinational corporations—all in the name economic recovery—cannot work. And, as the early economic indicators are showing in both Europe and America, these policies, which have so often failed, haven’t created any substantial job growth. Next year, Americans will get their first opportunity to ratify the Democrats’ government take-over policies. Europeans as a whole spoke this weekend. The Germans will do so in September and United Kingdom voters will finally have their chance to dump President Obama’s simpatico economic partner, the doltish Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown, no later than next June. On the heels of what are expected to be further right-of-center victories, Americans will then be able to pass judgment on these disastrous financial principles with a greater understanding as to why things didn’t improve—unless, of course, you’re a government bureaucrat or a Wall Street money man. Republicans must find their lost voices and remind the American people, just as the European conservatives have done for their constituencies, that stimulating the private sector is the best way to cure a country’s economic ills. For one of the few times in history, American conservatives can look to Europe for guidance and leadership. It’s now our turn to listen and respond. Jim Ellis is a former political adviser to the House Republican majority and currently provides election analysis for clients of the PRIsm Information Network. With Bennet Kelley he has formed Filibanter, which provides a live presentation combining political filibustering and banter.